


His Perfect Reality

by lumiereandcogsworth



Category: Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fatherhood, Fluff, adam is really worried about being a good king and dad, but he's doing a great job, this is the softest thing i've ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 17:09:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19089427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lumiereandcogsworth/pseuds/lumiereandcogsworth
Summary: With a couple hesitant glances toward Belle, he made his way to the upset infant. He’d never done this before, the taking-care-of-her-at-night thing. He was surprised he even woke up at all, given how deeply he tended to sleep. Nonetheless, there she lay: Adam’s fussy, little daughter.





	His Perfect Reality

The day had been rather long, that’s all Adam thought he’d remember from it. The king had had several meetings that day, some with court members, others with senior members of the royal advisory board. Questions needed to be answered, contracts needed to be signed, the day’s tasks were building up as it went on. Adam’s study had been buzzing with activity all morning and well into the afternoon, he barely even had time to think about Belle, let alone see her. Though, there was that blissful twenty minutes when she brought him a small lunch Mrs. Potts had prepared. They had a picnic in his study by the bookshelf, a guard planted firmly outside the door. No commotion right now, only a small moment to share each other’s presence. It was rare, these moments just the pair of them. They had a daughter now, and small as she was, she needed their utmost attention. They talked of each other’s busy days, the beautiful weather that had just come upon them, and of course their month-old daughter’s daily little antics. 

Of course, eventually, time had to continue on, and their moment of peace was disrupted by the rest of the world’s chaos. Belle kissed him and left the study, off to care for their little one while he attempted to run the country in a proper manner. The elder advisors had come up with a thousand different ways to say “that’s not how your father did it” whenever Adam would attempt to make a decision of any kind. Though Adam’s father was not a good man, nor a good father, he did know the ways of ruling a country; something Adam silently resented. He was slowly learning the trade, so to speak. Many of the elders, despite their internal eye-rolls, were well equipped for teaching Adam how to do this whole ‘king of France’ business. 

There was something about his father’s natural ability to lead, however, that Adam feared he’d never have. Despite all his father’s efforts to train Adam to be just like him, he seemed to have failed in making him feel ready to actually rule. He focused much more on attitude, and how one should  _ feel _ when they’re king.  _ That _ did absolute  _ wonders _ for young Prince Adam. Adam’s father was never truly there for him. Well, he was there, he just wasn’t there the way one’s father should be there. He was there in the sense that he was present. He told Adam how to behave, he showed him what it meant to be a prince. He molded Adam’s young mind into one that led him down a path of corrupt ways and terrible self-loathing. This was all Adam ever knew about fathers, and he was sure he didn’t want to be like that. He hated his father and he hated himself; the prince grew up wondering if the latter would ever change. He held onto every good thing his mother ever told him when he was a boy, and he prayed that’d be enough for when he,  _ if he _ , ever became a father himself. That was a future that Adam had let go of when he was cursed. He never thought there’d be even a chance of such a dream to come true. But here he was, finding himself at the end of a long day, walking up the stairs in the West Wing for his wife and daughter in the Master Chambers, a dream that had become his perfect reality. 

* * *

“Hello, darling,” Belle smiled, laying down their daughter in her bassinet, she was already fast asleep by the time Adam walked over to them both. 

“Hello,” he whispered, kissing Belle on the cheek while keeping his eyes on the infant. She slept rather peacefully, for the few hours she slept at a time. Belle noticed that Adam had a rather calm look about himself, almost as though he was in a daze. 

“Are you alright?” She asked, putting her hand on his cheek and turning his face toward her. Adam chuckled, grasping her arm and leaning his head toward her palm. 

“Very much so, my love,” he grinned with tired eyes. 

“You look exhausted, Adam. I’ve never seen you have such a busy day,” Belle said, gently taking his hand and leading him to bed. 

“That’s because I haven’t. I’m finally starting to be king, doing all the things my father did. His shoes are not as easy to fill as I imagined.” He slumped onto the bed, allowing Belle to unbutton his waistcoat so he’d be more comfortable for the night. “Oh, I don’t know what I expected. The elders have been a help, despite their groanings at my lack of knowledge. They probably think me a fool, compared to advising my father. Don’t know if I’ll ever be adequate in their eyes, truthfully. Thank you.” Belle had gotten up and retrieved his sleep attire as he rambled on. 

“You have to give yourself a chance,” Belle said, sitting down beside him. “This is all new for you, I know you’ll figure it out in time,” she reassured as Adam dressed himself. 

“I s’pose I will,” he grumbled, pulling his shirt over his head. “I just wish my father had left me with an inkling of help. That’s probably asking too much of him, though,” he smirked. The couple smiled at each other before climbing into bed, both falling asleep almost as soon as they hit their pillows. A long day can do that sometimes. 

* * *

Adam’s eyes flit open as a foreign sound filled his ears. He turned to his right to see Belle asleep on his arm. As he came into reality, he realized the sound he was hearing was his daughter crying in her bassinet. He looked again at Belle, surprised she wasn’t waking up to the sound as well. Perhaps caring for their newborn had made her even more exhausted than Adam had been. He watched the bassinet, almost trying to will her back to sleep telepathically. To no avail, Adam realized he’d have to comfort her. He slowly slid his arm from under his wife, and crept out of the bed as swiftly as possible. With a couple hesitant glances toward Belle, he made his way to the upset infant. He’d never done this before, the taking-care-of-her-at-night thing. He was surprised he even woke up at all, given how deeply he tended to sleep. Nonetheless, there she lay: Adam’s fussy, little daughter. He laid a hand gently on her little body, attempting to calm her.

“Hey, hey, hey, little one. Everything’s alright,” he whispered soothingly. He glanced one more time back at Belle, a bit hesitant to do what he knew he should. He’s held her before, plenty of times, really. But Belle’s always there, and she always places the baby in his arms so it’s just right. This was just a father and his child, and he had to be there for her. As lightly as he could, he began placing his large hands under the squirmy little princess, focusing to do it just as he’d seen his wife do a hundred times. Once he’d managed to get her in his arms, he held her close to his chest, and subconsciously began rocking back and forth. He tried adjusting her, fixing his arms in different positions, but everything he did still made her fuss. Adam looked up, the moonlight was shining brightly into the room from the balcony. He carried the baby toward the light, continuing to rock her in his arms as he’d seen Belle do. 

“Everything’s alright, little one. I’m here now,” he whispered as he opened the doors to the balcony and stepped out onto it. He looked up at the beautiful night sky, blanketed by shining stars. Before he realized it, his daughter had stopped her fussing. She was blinking up at him with the same brown eyes her mother had. Adam finally recognized the silence and looked down at her, a huge grin forming on his face. “Finally calmed down, have we?” He chuckled a little; she had a peculiar look on her face, as though she was trying to take in the entire world but not managing to process any of it. Adam perceived her gaze to be toward the castle itself. “See all of this? It will be yours someday, my dear,” he said, walking toward the balcony wall to see the view. The sun seemed to be just peeking out of the horizon. The sky was turning a beautiful shade of purple as the edge of forever began to turn orange. “I’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know, everything to be a good queen, love, you have my word.” The baby most definitely understood none of her father’s words, but she still looked up at him like she’d taken it all to heart. Adam smiled down at her, eyes welling up, never having thought he could love someone so little and new as much as he loved her. 

Every now and then he’d be tortured by the fear that the horrid ways of his father would creep back into his life; that he’d hurt his family, that they’d resent him forever as he did his own father. But looking into his little daughter’s eyes, so pure and so loved, she made him see that that would never happen. She made him want to be better, to strive farther and farther from his father’s cruel ways every day. He leaned down and softly kissed her forehead, whispering, “I love you, little one,” as he raised his head again. 

“Adam?” The king turned around rather suddenly, finding his wife standing in the doorway squinting up at him in the moonlight.

“Oh, Belle, hello, I-”

“Was she fussing?” Belle asked, stepping onto the balcony and to her little family. 

“She was, you were sleeping…” Belle looked lovingly at her daughter, taking the baby’s hand in hers and kissing it sweetly. Adam watched her in wonder, so in love with how easy and sweet she was with their daughter.  

“Well I’m glad she had her papa to take care of her, hm?” Belle smiled at the baby when she looked up at her mother. Adam’s eyes shifted to Belle when she said that. Belle had full confidence in Adam’s ability to be a good father, there wasn’t an ounce of doubt in her words. She wasn’t worried about how he picked her up or why they were standing on the balcony. She loved him, and saw the good in him like no one else did. How could he ever think he’d turn into his own father, when he had such a capacity for love that his father never had? He smiled down at his beautiful wife and daughter, he’d be okay in this new chapter of life, this he was certain of. 


End file.
